Baseball Travels To University of Hartford On Tuesday, April 17

Midweek In-State Match-UpThe Quinnipiac baseball team will head to West Hartford, Conn. to face the University of Hartford at Fiondella Field on Tuesday, April 17 at 3 p.m.

Historic Weekend For The SkipperOn Friday, April 13, Quinnipiac head coach Dan "Skip" Gooley won his 500th career win in a 17-3 decision that saw the Bobcats top Mount St. Mary's, 17-3.Gooley's first career win came on April 2, 1977 when the Braves defeated Fairfield, 5-3. Gooley's first home fell on April 14, 1977, when Quinnipiac defeated Barrington College, 18-1. Gooley's 100th career win came at New Hampshire College, 14-3, during the Braves' 1983 campaign. Gooley won his 200th game in 1987 and his 300th while at the University of Hartford. His 400th win came against the University of Hartford, 7-3, on May 4, 2006. The win in the first game of Quinnipiac's doubleheader on Saturday, April 14 gave Gooley 400 career wins at Quinnipiac, making him the third coach in school history to reach the mark along with former athletic director and men's basketball coach Burt Kahn (459) and current men's and women's tennis coach Mike Quitko (481).

Scouting The HawksHartford hosts Quinnipiac with a record of 8-25 after a three-game set against Maine and losses in seven of its last eight games. James Alfonso is hitting at a team-high .327 (36-110) clip while leading the team in hits (36), runs scored and on-base percentage. Simon Kundernatsch is hitting .309 (34-110) with a team-best three home runs and 24 RBI.
The Bobcats In The National RankingsGabe Guerino (Milford, Conn.) currently ranks as the "Toughest to Strikeout" in NCAA Division I baseball. The senior first baseman has struck-out once in 77 at-bats. Senior catcher Kyle Nisson (Wallingford, Conn.) ranks 11th in the same category with four strikeouts in 99 at-bats. Derek Lamacchia (Whitestone, N.Y.) also ranks 59th out of 250 student-athletes in strikeouts per nine-innings pitched with a 9.77 average. Spencer Kane (Wolcott, Conn.) also ranks 10th nationally with three complete games.

Last Time OutQuinnipiac took three of four games against Mount St. Mary's this past weekend. The Bobcats' three consecutive wins mark the first time since March 25-26, also against Mount, in which Quinnipiac won three straight. The Bobcats' 17 runs and 22 hits in the first game of the series, a 17-3 win, were the most at Quinnipiac since April 21, 2010 in a 19-18 win against Yale.

HEY FIVERIn a 3-3 week, Zak Palmer (#5) batted a team-high .542 (13-24)with a team-high 13 hits in six games, including four doubles. Palmer also drove in five runs and scored eight more while slugging .708 and posting a .593 on-base percentage, both team highs. Beginning with his third at-bat in the Bobcats' loss to Rhode Island on Tuesday, April 10, Palmer reached base safely in 10 consecutive appaearances at the plate. He was also the only Bobcat to record a hit in each game for the week, while extending his team best hitting streak to seven games. Against Mount St. Mary's, in a home series that Quinnipiac took three of four games in, Palmer was 11-for-17 with four RBi and six runs scored, stringing together four straight multiple-hit games.

The AceDerek Lamacchia made two appearances this week - one in relief in a mid-week non-conference match-up against Rhode Island and one start against Mount St. Mary's. Lamacchia pitched one hitless, scoreless inning, while striking out two, against Rhode Island. On Friday, April 13, Lamacchia hurled 6 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits while striking out eight for his first victory of the season. For the year, Lamacchia is 1-4 with a 4.85 ERA while also leading the team in innings pitched (42.2) as well as strikeouts (48).

Raising KaneSpencer Kane (Wolcott, Conn.) improved to 3-4 on the season after hurling his team-leading fifth complete game of the year in the Bobcats' 7-2 win on Saturday, April 14. Kane held Mount St. Mary's to two runs on six hits while striking out eight over seven complete innings.

The O'CKevin O'Connell (Glastonbury, Conn.) also picked up his first career win after pitching 1 1/3 innings of scoreless, hitless baseball as Quinnipiac stormed back to defeat Mount St. Mary's, 5-4 in extra innings.

Nisson ImpossibleKyle Nisson (Wallingford, Conn.)batted .440 (11-25) for the week while also totaling seven RBI and 10 runs scored. Against UConn in a 12-7 loss on April 9, Nisson was 3-for-5 with a two-run double and a run scored. In the first game of the Bobcats' series against Mount St. Mary's, Nisson was 5-for-6 with a double, four RBI and five runs scored.